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Merlin MultiROM -
Merlin is a direct replacement for the original EPROM board used in Dragon's Lair and Space
Ace. It includes Dragon's Lair rev F2, Space Ace rev A3, DLE, SAE, and optionally,
DL2E. Merlin allows ROMs to be swapped by using the joystick and button. For
more information, check the
LaserCon page.
Board Revisions -
Two different board
revisions existed. (revision A and revision C) Revision A PCBs have a
serial number below 6,000 and revision C PCB's have a serial number above
6,000. PCB revision C was when the switch
was made from revision D EPROMs (five chip set) to revision E EPROMs (four chip
set). This is also where the switch from the PR-7820 to the LD-V1000
started. Older boardsets below serial number 6,000 (rev A PCB) can be modified to use
the LD-V1000, and newer boardsets above serial number 6,000 (PCB rev C) can use the
PR-7820 with a slight modification. For instructions on what needs to be
modified as well as a detailed look at the way both of these laserdisc players
communicate with the main logic board, check out Jeff Kulczycki's Logic
Board Conversion
Sometimes when the EPROMs
were changed from the five chip set to the four chip set, the 5th chip, (now
unneeded) was left in, making it hard to determine what revision is being
used. If your EPROMs are unlabeled, the best way to determine what revision
they are is by changing dipswitches. EPROM Rev E, F & F2 can't do 4 coins per
credit, so that setting makes a good test.
Changes in
EPROM REV. E, F, & F2 - The
switch for joystick feedback sound (B3) is discontinued and is now used to
select the model of disc player. If
you are using a LD-V1000 player and set this switch in the PR-7820 position, the
LD-V1000 will play the disc from beginning to end after power-up, and the game
will not function. If you are using
a PR-7820 player and set this switch in the LD-V1000 position, the game will not
reach its second beep after power-up, and the screen will remain blank. (Note that along with the proper setting of switch B3, the correct main
circuit board appropriate for the disc player in use must also be installed for
the game to work.)
The
option for 4 coins per credit is discontinued, and this switch (A1) is now used
for difficulty setting selection. The
difficulty level of hard can be upgraded to very hard with this
switch. Very hard difficulty
is characterized by a few specific scenes that have been reprogrammed so that
they require extremely critical (and occasionally abnormal) timing on the part
of the player. These critical
scenes will randomly appear during the game at times when they arent supposed
to, replacing the scene that would have otherwise appeared at that point. If a player can recognize that a certain scene should not normally be
appearing at that time in the game, he can conclude that it is the very hard
version of that scene and play it accordingly, if he knows how. Occasionally however, a critical scene will appear at the right time to
replace itself as a normal scene, making it impossible for the player to
distinguish right away whether it is the normal version of that scene, or the
very hard version. Aside from these specific, critical scenes, the remaining
scenes of the game are of hard difficulty.
A
setting of 2 coins per credit is not required for pay-as-you-go to function. In pay-as-you-go mode, the price to continue the game is the
same as the price per credit, either 2 or 3 coins. Note however, that if the game is set for pay-as-you-go at 3 coins per
credit, the screen graphics will incorrectly ask for only 2 coins, both to start
the game and at the interruption points.
In
pay-as-you go mode, extra lives may be awarded after interruption points only if
the game is set to begin with 3 lives.
The
difference between rev. F and F2 was a small change in U4 to correct a bug on
the second move in the Dragon's Lair scene. On rev. F EPROMS, making
no move on the second move of the Dragon's Lair causes the rest of the scene to play by itself. Actually it
throws the game into a loop, and after so many seconds of inactivity, the game
detects this and resets itself.
European Versions -
Dragon's
Lair was licensed to Atari for production and manufacturing in Europe. The
cabinet was very similar to the Cinematronics release, but the hardware,
including the laserdisc player was totally different. Atari sub-licensed
Dragon's Lair to Sidam for production and manufacturing in Italy. Most of
the hardware for the Sidam version was the same as the Atari version, but the
cabinet design was
totally
different. Both the Atari and Sidam versions of Dragon's Lair used
video overlay for the score and lives rather that the score display PCB that is
used in the Cinematronics version. Click on the following links to see
screen shots of the video overlay. Image
01 | Image 02
Home Brew Conversions - A do-it yourself
conversion card! Check out Robert DiNapoli's PC
conversion.
Enhancement ROMs -
These ROMs make use of the laserdisc's full potential. Check out Dave Hallock's Dragon's
Lair Enhancement.
Monitor
Swap - If the monitor in your Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, or
Thayer's Quest is not up to your liking, you can replace that monitor with a 19"
TV. The Monitor Swap Tech Page will
show you everything you need to know.
68705 Bypass Mod - Update
for older Rev. A DL/SA PCBs. See the
68705 Bypass Modification Tech Page for
more information. Volume
Control Hack - Shaun Wood comes thru with a neat hack
for the "move beeps" in Dragon's Lair or Space Ace. Now you can adjust the
move beep volume if it is too loud or soft for your environment. Check one
Shaun's Dragon's Lair
Volume Control Hack.
Interchangeability -
Space Ace can be played in a Dragon's Lair cabinet
simply by changing the laserdisc and the EPROMS (and also ideally with the installation of the 3 skill level selection buttons for "Cadet", "Captain" & "Space Ace").
Engineering Mode - Engineering mode was designed to let the engineers play-test a scene without
having to play through the whole game. To learn more about this, check out
Jeff Kulczycki's
info on the Engineering Mode for Dragon's
Lair.
Initialization - Ever wonder what all those characters are in the score display of Dragon's Lair
while the game boots up? Check out Jeff Kulczycki's Dragon's Lair Initialization
page.
LD-V1000 Boot Switch -
A simple
inexpensive way to build
a switch that issues
a play command to your LD-V1000
or LD-V1001. Check
it out here.
Scene Sequencing - For a detailed look on the random order of the scenes for Dragon's Lair, check
out Dave Hallock's Dragon's Lair Scene
Sequencing.
Easter Eggs - See some of the things the programmers / animators left in the game. Check
out Laserdisc Game Easter Eggs.
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